Just a little bit of background, I come from a low income family and go to a Title 1 High School (that’s around 75% Hispanic) , and I know that lower middle class white students have it much worse than people of color in terms of admissions.
My mom is completely white while my dad is half Italian, so that makes me a quarter Italian. Because of this, I have rather tan skin and often gets me confused for being a Hispanic when in public. Because I grew up in a largely Hispanic area, I learned Spanish from my peers (not my parents; they don’t speak it), so this leaves a lot of people thinking I’m Latino before finding out that I have no genetic link to any Spanish Speaking country. Most of my peers are Hispanic and even though English is my first language, I have been told that I have a barely noticeable Spanish twang when I speak (ex. sometimes my ch sounds more like sh and the letter y sometimes has a slight j sound in it).
Prior to college applications, I have always marked down white as my ethnicity on tests and surveys, but is it morally justified if I say that I’m Latino on my application? What if I marked down that I was white on Questbridge but Latino on Commonapp?
Ethnically, IMO, you are not Hispanic but it is a self identifying choice and if you consider yourself Hispanic, go for it. If you feel you live an Hispanic life, enjoy Hispanic culture, ‘live’ an Hispanic experience, check the box.
I don’t think you’ll gain any advantage. My daughter, who is Chinese, was often mistaken for Hispanic when she was younger, but that didn’t make her Hispanic.
No, you do not know that- you believe it. Big difference. Show me the stats behind your claim. In the meantime, here is a NYT article tracking college admissions of blacks and hispanics over time:
“I think that I might get an admissions boost if I say that I am hispanic and since I have hispanic friends and speak some spanish and have slightly darker skin and people sometimes think I am hispanic, am I morally justified in lying?”
And the answer is ‘no’.
A lie is still a lie. Trying to get a (perceived) benefit for which you are not eligible is still cheating.
For a handy way to test whether a lie is worth telling, consider whether you would be able for the social media response if you got caught and it went public.
And, not for nothing: the likelihood is that your (false) claim to be hispanic will not help much, if any, in your admission process. You could end up with all the risk and moral implications of lying for nothing.
I strongly disagree. Don’t “go for it” because you hang out with latinos in a heavily latino community and have tan skin. That’s bogus, IMO. That’s not the same as being latino and growing up in latino culture.
Agree with most of the people above. If you are questioning it then the answer is obvious. Also if you get called on it you will look completely dishonest on your part and you’d risk having a school rescind acceptance. Pretty big risk for little reward.
“The U.S. Census Bureau defines the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino to refer to “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race” and states that Hispanics or Latinos can be of any race, any ancestry, any ethnicity.”
The definition of Hispanic does not necessarily mean the extent to which you “feel” hispanic. If you descended from these countries listed, you are hispanic. Typical cut-offs for college admissions, scholarships, college board tests such as SAT, etc. are usually 1/4. If you are any less than 1/4, you are not considered hispanic.
Zoe Saldana, Carmelo Anthony, La La Anthony, and many more would beg to differ. Hispanic is an ethnicity. One can be of any race (or mixed) and still be Hispanic/Latinx
Where does it say colleges, scholarships, and standardized tests limit Hispanics to those who are 1/4 or more Hispanic? There’s one Hispanic organization that I know of that offers competitive grants that requires it. But I haven’t seen other scholarships, the College Board, or colleges list that as a requirement. Please post links to where you found this information.